The house was in total chaos with activity. After the town meeting, and everyone Regina listed agreed to the plan, preparations shortly started.
The Charming Mills Lucas group separated, Ruby and granny decided to go back to the B and get some of their things to move into the mansion. Regina and Emma headed to Snows apartment to magic their things to the mansion while said family headed straight there with Henry.
Soon after was when the chaos ensued. Regina had walked into her home with her true love and was immediately greeted with the sight of the small crowd who would be staying there for the foreseeable future. For the first time that day Regina doubted if she had made the right call, she loved the privacy of her home more then anyone and now that privacy was basically no more. Snow and her family she didn't mind, and even Ruby and Granny she didn't mind either considering recent events. But everyone else was unfamiliar to her, she knew these people as a mayor and leader of the town, but nothing below skin level. But she had to be strong, she wouldn't had made this decision if she didn't think it necessary. Whoever was out there trying to harm them was obviously a dangerous threat, and she needed to do anything in her power to protect her loved ones and her town. If that meant sharing her home with a few residents then so be it, she would prevail.
When her and Emma had walked in everyone was in the middle of a heated argument it seemed, based on what she could see Jack Frost and Queen Elsa were locked in a heated argument. About what?, she couldn't know.
Regina and Emma shared a brief look before walking over to the group, trying to catch whatever was going on.
" Me and you can literally control ice and snow! Between the both of us we can take whoever these people are down!", exclaimed Jack, he was floating lazily on top of his staff as he looked at Elsa.
Elsa rolled her eyes at his immaturity, she couldn't believe this guy was similar to her in power. He was acting like a child, complete opposite of herself. " Regina has a plan in motion, that is why we are all here. It would be completely idiotic to just run into danger without more information on who these individuals are, it doesn't matter how strong we are if we don't know our opponents", she exclaimed back. Her icy blue eyes staring daggers into Jacks similar ones. Anna was standing behind her sister, both hands wrapped around Elsa's bicep in an attempt to keep her sister from losing her cool.
Jack snorted back, blue eyes rolling upward. " Sitting behind these four walls like scaredy cats doesn't sound like much of a plan to me. I'm the guardian of winter, I'm basically untouchable", he boosted while doing a small backflip midair.
Tinkerbell floated up to meet him in the air", That's the kind of thinking that will surely get you hurt", she stated in a warning tone.
Jack looked at her with an amused smirk on his face, clearly not taking her words seriously. " How can I get hurt if I'm already dead?", he asked rhetorically.
Mulan, who was sitting down on the bottom step of the grand stairs casually sharpening her sword spoke up next. She didn't even take her eyes off her sword as she spoke, " That is precisely why we can't afford to act recklessly, as much as I hate to admit it our opponents right now have an advantage over us. And that is that they know who we are, but we don't know them. In battle, that kind of advantage can easily tip the ties in their favor", she said, still continuing the task of sharpening her blade.
Belle and Repunzal we're sitting a little bit more above Mulan, content on listening in on the conversation instead of participating. Genie was in a corner munching away happily on an apple, seeming to not have a care in the world. Hercules was standing crossed armed behind Elsa and Anna, his blue green eyes taking in everyone in the room with curiosity. Moana and Kida we're sitting on the floor by Mulan, also listening in but not participating.
" Whatever, if you all wanna stay here and do nothing then fine. But I will not be cooped up in here like an animal", stated Jack.
Regina silently contemplated everything everyone said, they still hadn't noticed her and Emma standing by the threshold of the room. By far she didn't think this would be easy, she had asked these people to leave their homes, their lives to come and stay here while they dealt with this new threat. She obviously didn't expect everyone of them to be content, she was at least glad that most of them seem willing to cooperate, it would make things far less difficult if they could work together instead of against. She decided to make her presence known, she needed to make sure everyone was on the same page.
Coughing slightly to get the attention of everyone, Regina walked up to the group, Emma by her side with their hands firmly clasped together.
All eyes turned to them immediately, all except Mulan who just continued to exam her blade. She didn't even seemed caught off guard by Emma and Regina's presence, which led Regina to believe that she had already known they were there. Not surprisingly, since Mulan was a skilled warrior.
Regina faced the group head on, if this plan was going to work they all needed to get along, considering they will be living together until they're enemies were taken care of. " I understand that some of you have your reservations about staying here, which is completely understandable. But believe me when I say that I put some thought into this plan of mine, and I wouldn't have asked you all to come here if there was another solution. Be that as it may, I'm not holding anyone prisoner. If you don't wish to remain here, feel free to leave. Whoever stays is more then welcomed in my home, and we will commence an immediate plan of action against these unknown enemies", she stated strongly. Her brown eyes stared at everyone in turn, she might have opened her doors to these people, but she was by far not their babysitter. If any of them believed they had a chance on their own out there, she wouldn't stop them.
No one moved or said anything, even Jack was silent as he slowly floated down to stand on the ground, maybe the gravity of the situation had finally dawned on him.
Regina smiled, " Perfect. Now, Emma and I will magic some extra rooms for you all. Trust that you will have your own space and be comfortable, I want to make this process as easy on everyone as possible. When your all settled in, please meet back in the dining room. I want to start planning a strategy to take on this new threat so that we can all go back to our normal lives", She informed. Everyone nodded in understanding.
Regina and Emma shared a quick look before simultaneously raising a hand each, white magic engulfed each appendage as they released their combined light magic together. A few seconds later everyone felt the mansion shake for a brief second before everything quickly settled once again. Regina spoke up, " All done, we created newly furnished rooms for all of you. Please head upstairs and settle yourselves in, we will meet in the dining room in an hour. I trust that you will all pick your rooms in a civilized manner", she commented while giving Jack a quick glance, he gave her a sheepish grin in return.
Everyone filled upstairs quietly, Jack and Tinkerbell floating up above the rest.
Regina watched them go, she really hoped they could pull this off. If they couldn't work together, they might as well be sitting ducks.
Emma also watched the group, as the last one vanished up the stairs she turned her green gaze on her true love beside her. Regina looked deep in thought, she was doing that thing where her eyes looked hazy and her bottom lip was caught between her teeth. Emma secretly loved that look on her true love, she always looked adorable when she was deep in thought. She pulled Regina slowly into her chest, giving her a hug encouragement. She will stand by her true love no matter what, and wanted to make sure Regina knew that.
Regina melted into her blonde lover's embrace, accepting the hug for what it was. It doesn't matter how stressed she could be, one hug from Emma Swan was enough to put all her worries to rest.
" Are you okay babe?", Asked Emma soothingly.
Regina gave a small sigh, nuzzling a little closer to her true love. " I'm worried that this plan of mine is going to backfire on us. I'm asking these complete strangers to not only work together in defeating an unknown threat, but to also live together under one roof. Maybe I might have jumped the gun a little", she confessed.
Emma listened, she understood perfectly how her true love was feeling. She gave a small kiss to the top of Regina's head, trying her best to comfort her as much as she could. " Everything happened so quickly, none of us were ready for something like this to come out of the blue. But you still came up with a plan on the spot, a plan that even if it is a little crazy, is still better then anything else we have at the moment. Whatever happens we will take it on Gina, together". She finished strongly.
Regina basked in her loves words, feeling strength coming back to her. She knew they would be okay, as long as she had her true love by her side. A flash of blue amber eyes crossed her mind, and Ruby as well.
They stayed hugging for a few more seconds, enjoying the comfort of being in each other's arms. Then suddenly they heard a baby's cry coming from upstairs, it would seem Neal wasn't a happy baby at the moment.
Regina and Emma looked at each other and shared a small laugh, having a baby in the house, along with everyone else was surely going to be interesting.
" Let's head upstairs and check on Snow, we have an hour until we gather with everyone", stated Regina, Emma nodded her head in agreement.
They headed upstairs hand in hand, while they walked they passed by the new rooms they had recently added. It seemed everyone had picked a room easily enough, Elsa and Anna were in one room, Moana and Kida had actually chosen a room together as well, the same goes for Belle and Repunzal. Regina raised an eyebrow at this, her and Emma had created enough rooms for everyone to have their own room without having to share. But it seemed like that was unnecessary, considering half of them chose to share. Tinkerbell has a room alone, as well as Jack, Hercules, Genie, and Mulan. Then there was a room for Ruby and one for Granny, then obviously Henry's room and a room for Snow and her family. It was none of her business why some of them decided to sleep in the same room together, but that didn't stop her from being curious.
They followed Neal's cries all the way to the master bedroom, it seemed Snow, Charming, Neal and Henry had decided to wait for the pair there.
Walking into the room, Regina saw them all gathered around baby Neal. It seemed the baby was hungry considering Snow was quickly trying to make a bottle for him. She quickly finished it and gave the bottle to the baby, who quickly took it and started drinking away happily. Emma closed the door behind them and then her and Regina walked up to the group.
Snow was the first to notice them, welcoming them with a small tired smile. As soon as baby Neal spotted Regina his feeding subsided-immediately, ,he stretched his little chubby arms towards Regina, babbling happily as all newborns do. He had taken quite a liking to the Ex evil queen. To the point where Emma had even taken to joking about how her little brother is trying to steal her woman.
Regina smiled at the little boy, quite honestly she had also come to care very much for the little charming. She reached out and happily took him within her arms, the baby contentedly resting in her embrace.
" I might have to start shipping him your way more often", said Snow jokingly. Sometimes Regina had a way with Neal that even she herself lacked, but it always warmed her heart to see how gentle her stepmother can become whenever around Neal.
Regina cooed softly at Neal while gently rocking him in her arms, " Trust me honey, i wouldn't mind one bit", she answered back.
Charming stepped up from his spot and crossed his arms, " So, how was welcoming all the new guests? I'm guessing they weren't the happiest bunch," he stated.
Regina signs softly, the small moment of peace at holding baby Neal vanishing at the reminder of the situation at hand. " It went as well as you could have guessed, but I did manage to come to an understanding of some sorts with them. Hopefully we can manage to get along and work together, if not then this is all for nothing", she said, regardless of the fact that she was able to defuse the situation, she knew it still wouldn't be easy to get everyone to cooperate.
Emma walked up to her and planted a small kiss on her cheek, support clearly being shown in her actions. " If anyone can manage a bunch of rowdy people it's definitely you Gina, also I'm sure none of them want to die so there's also that", she said the last part as a joke, hoping to at least get a smile out of her true love, she knew Regina had to be stressing about this whole mess and she wanted to alleviate that as much as she could.
Regina gave a small chuckle, Emma's joke being successful. She appreciated her blonde love's attempt at cheering her up, Emma could always steal a smile from her no matter the situation.
They chatted amongst themselves for a few minutes, baby Neal falling asleep in Regina's arms while the conversation continued. Henry excused himself shortly after to go to his room, and as soon as the door closed behind him the conversation turned more serious.
" I must confess that I'm worried about this situation, the plan that I proposed is only but a temporary solution. We are still very much at risk even if we are all here together, I might have even unintentionally planted an even bigger target on our backs by grouping all of us together like this", admitted Regina, she had laid down baby Neal in the middle of the bed and sat at the edge, Emma sitting beside her and Snow and Charming standing in front of them.
" You did what you could in the short time we had, it's not like we had time to actually prepare for something like this", stated Charming.
" yeah , we're going to figure this out babe", said Emma, lovingly giving her hand a small squeeze.
Regina smiled lovingly back at her, just looking into her true loves beautiful green eyes making her world that much brighter.
" By the way, where are Ruby and Granny?", Asked Snow a moment later.
Unconsciously at the mention of Ruby, Regina started focusing on that strange connection that they shared to see where indeed the werewolf girl was. She missed her, and regardless of everything happening around her the blue eyed beauty was never far from her thoughts. She reached out with her senses, thinking intently on the beautiful blue eyes she's come to treasure, the intoxicating scent, the warmth that radiates off of her pleasantly. Her entire mind was filled with Ruby Lucas, and suddenly she was gone.
The image of Emma, Snow, Charming and Neal, and her bedroom as a whole disappeared right before her eyes. It almost felt as if her body and soul got yanked out her physical body, then there was black.
Suddenly her eyes snapped open, Regina looked around her surrounding immediately.
What?.
She was no longer in her room at the mansion, she was… Inside Granny's B & B.
What is happening?.
Regina was at a loss for what was happening, a minute ago she was with her true love and their family in her bedroom. And now she's miles away at Granny's somehow. She was completely stumped, how could this be possible? Did she accidentally transport herself here due to thinking about Ruby? No that couldn't be, she didn't feel her magic at all. Then, how?.
That's when she noticed it, Regina had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't realized that she was moving. Her body was moving, but she wasn't in control. Wait… This didn't even feel like her own body, she seemed…. Taller.
" Ruby are you done? We have to meet up with the other's soon", called out a voice, a voice that clearly belonged to Granny.
" I'm almost done, I'll meet you down stairs", Said Ruby's voice, but for whatever reason Regina felt as if she herself had said it.
All the pieces came crashing into Regina as soon as that thought crossed her mind, she was inside Ruby's body somehow. She couldn't necessarily control the wolf's body, but she was somehow tagging along for the ride. Ruby and Granny were still at the bed and breakfast, seemingly getting ready to leave to the mansion soon.
Regina couldn't believe it, she had a feeling her connection to Ruby had a lot more potential than what she had been experiencing as of late. But to be able to access Ruby like this was incredible, and all she had done was concentrate on Ruby.
Regina felt a smile creeping up her face, or her spiritual face at least. Now that she knew she could do this there would be nothing stopping her from looking into Ruby whenever she pleased, the thought gave her immense satisfaction.
Regina let out a small chuckle to herself, " You won't be able to get rid of me now Pup", she said out loud.
Ruby suddenly stopped moving, she had been in the process of lifting up her duffle bag over her shoulder. " Regina?", she shockingly asked the empty room. Her eyes were wide, looking around the room as if she lost something. She could have sworn she just heard the voice of her mate, but that was impossible. Regina was at the mansion, that much she was sure of. So she definitely had to be going crazy, because ain't no way she just heard Regina. She's definitely here in her room by herself, and the only other person around was Granny.
Ruby shook her head, placing a hand to her forehead. " I have to be going crazy", she stated to the empty room.
Regina had been shocked as well, she hadn't expected for Ruby to actually hear her. This connection between them kept surprising her more and more, and somehow she still had a feeling that it still wasn't its full potential.
Regina felt a smirk growing on her face, she could have a little fun with this. " We can be crazy together if you want darling", she said flirtatiously.
Ruby once again looked around widely, that time she definitely couldn't have imagined that. She definitely just heard Regina, she couldn't have made it up twice. But where was she?, last time she checked she was definitely alone in her room, if Regina was in there Ruby wouldn't have missed it considering how tuned in she was to Regina these days.
" Aww you look adorable, looking confusedly around like that", said Regina again, a hint of a smirk in the sound of her voice.
" What is happening right now?!", Exclaimed Ruby loudly, still looking around for Regina. She even decided to look under her bed, in the off chance that her mate was actually under there for whatever reason.
Regina laughed at seeing this, Ruby was truly adorable. " Darling, under your bed would not be the place I would be in", she said, still chuckling slightly at the wolf's adorableness.
Ruby stood back up, giving up on looking around her room. Regina was not in there, that was a fact. But how in the world was she hearing her voice right now?, her wolf hearing was top notch but she definitely wouldn't be able to hear Regina all the way from the mansion. Giving one last look around, Ruby slowly sat in her bed. She decided to reach out with her senses, if Regina was indeed there in any way shape or form, her senses would pick up on it. First she smelled the air around her, looking for a hint of that intoxicating scent, nothing. Then she focused on her hearing, listening for that rhythmic heartbeat she's come to memorize, still nothing. Then she opened her eyes, a one last ditch attempt to locate her mate, and there she was.
Ruby's mouth fell open, she slowly stood from her bed and took shaky steps towards her mirror. Her eyes wide open as she gazed into the mirror, what Ruby saw was not her reflection, she saw Regina.
Regina was also shocked, Ruby was looking right at her. Those blue eyes burning into her own, as if she was standing right in front of her. As Ruby stepped closer and closer so did Regina, almost as if their bodies were one instead of two.
Ruby reached a hand out and slowly put it on the mirror's surface, watching as Regina mimicked her actions perfectly. Then she tilted her head to the side, Regina mimicking her once again. She reached a hand to touch her own face, watching Regina do the same.
" Have you established that I'm in your body yet darling?", asked Regina jokingly. Amusement clear in her eyes as she watched Ruby do all kinds of gestures with her body, Regina feeling her own body copying every movement perfectly.
Ruby still couldn't believe it, " How?", was all she could think to say. Could this be because of their mating?, has their mating bond gotten that much stronger that they can actually do this kind of thing?. Incredible.
" Your guess is as good as mine Pup, frankly I have no clue. But I do believe you might have more knowledge then me", Regina accused lightly. She had felt through her bond with Ruby that the wolf wasn't at all that surprised about these sudden events. She definitely knew something Regina didn't, and she was hoping to get something out of her.
Ruby gulped lightly, taking a quick step back. Regina once again doing exactly the same as her. She had known that Regina had to have been picking up on things, her mate was incredibly smart. She just didn't expect her to put her on blast so soon, and now she didn't even know how to respond to that.
It seems fate wasn't done with her yet, because not long after that Granny walked into her room. She had an annoyed expression on her face as she looked at her granddaughter, who seemed to just be staring at her reflection in the mirror. " Girl, if you don't move your ass I'll move it for you. You know how that mate of yours gets if we keep her waiting too long", she said in annoyance, not realizing at all that she had unintentionally revealed the secret Ruby had been keeping to the person she had been keeping it from. Without wasting a second she walked over and grabbed Ruby's bag and walked out the room once again, yelling something over her shoulder about how she won't be so nice next time if she had to come back in there.
Ruby felt her whole body freeze at her grandmother's words, her heart rate speeding up tremendously. No no no no, this couldn't be happening right now. She slowly looked up from the ground to meet Regina's eyes, scared shitless about what she might find in them.
Regina was flabbergasted, she was shocked, she was so many things she couldn't even describe. But most of all she felt something in her brain and heart click into place, as if the missing piece of this whole mystery just presented itself to her. That one word that Granny had said, out of everything that one word that made butterflies erupt in her body.
Mate.
She didn't have a lot of knowledge about werewolves, but for some reason she knew that one word answered all of her questions. The big mystery that surrounded her relationship with Ruby, has just been revealed to her.
Regina stared wide eyed at Ruby, she wanted nothing more then to jump into her arms at this very moment. Regardless that she didn't fully understand the concept of mating in the werewolf community, she had heard that word being thrown around before when she's heard tales of them. Mate. Mate. Mate. That one word kept circling her brain none stop, with each thought her heart thumped loudly in her chest.
"Ruby…", she started, feeling like she had to, no, needed to say something, anything. Ruby looked terrified, her eyes were shaking. Regina could literally feel the anxiety rolling off of her in waves, the fear that gripped her was astronomical. Regina needed to calm her down, she needed to tell her everything was going to be okay, that she didn't have to be afraid.
Just when she was about to speak, Ruby closed her eyes tightly. " No", was the only thing she said before Regina felt herself being pushed. It felt as though Ruby had pushed her out, and the next thing she knew she was snapping back into consciousness, and she was back in her bedroom with Emma, Snow, and Charming.
" probably on their way here by now", Emma was in the middle of saying when Regina finally tuned in on the conversation.
Regina blinked once, then twice, then three times just to be sure. " What?", she asked the room out loud. Did Ruby push her out?? Did the revelation of their connection really scared her that much?. Mate. Everything made sense now, Regina felt like she had been blindfolded all this time and now the blindfold has just been ripped off her face completely. Mate. The word kept repeating itself over and over again in her mind. She didn't know much about werewolf's as previously stated, but she knew that a mate was the equivalent of a true love in their culture. Which explains why her connection to Ruby was so similar to her true love with Emma, because it basically was.
Ruby was her mate, her true love, just as much as Emma was.
" Regina, are you okay!?", asked a worried Emma.
Regina once again snapped back into reality, Emma was holding on to both her shoulders. Her green eyes filled with worry. Then she felt liquid on her face, she reached a shaky hand to wipe her face and that's when she realized that she was crying.
" My love, please talk to me. What's going on?", asked Emma once again, she reached a hand out and wiped a stray tear that Regina missed. Snow and Charming were standing a bit behind Emma, both wearing equal worried expressions.
Regina took small deep breaths to calm herself, she needed to regain her composure. Ruby was already freaking out for the both of them, Regina needed to be the calm one. " I have to go to Ruby", she stated strongly. There was no time to waste, she needed to get to her. She needed Ruby more then anything at this moment, she needed to get to her as soon as possible.
Emma looked deep into her eyes, as if searching for something. She must have found what she was looking for, because not soon after she nodded her head in understanding. " Go, and please be careful", she stated.
Regina smiled softly back at her green eyed true love, she's never felt so lucky to have such an amazing woman as her true love. She loves Emma Swan, loves her with everything she had. Without caring that they weren't alone, Regina leaned in and lovingly kissed her. Pouring in all the love she felt in that one kiss, Emma lovingly kissed her back, basking in their shared love.
They pulled apart shortly after, wide smiles on their faces.
A small cough interrupted their moment, both Emma and Regina broke their loaded eye contact and looked up at Snow and Charming. Snow was looking confusedly at them, while Charming was looking away in embarrassment, baby Neal was still sleeping soundly on the bed.
" Um, did we miss something here?", asked Snow after a second, still staring confusedly at the pair.
Regina smiled at her stepdaughter, then shook her head at her. " No time to explain honey, I'm needed elsewhere", she said. Then with one last loving look at her true love, she vanished in a burst of purple smoke, her thoughts focused on her destination. Granny's B .